Perseverance Rover Sends Pics From A Hill After Months Long Climb; NASA Excited For What’s Next
NASA’s Perseverance rover has finished its 3.5-months-long climb and reached the top of the rim of Jezero crater on Mars. The six-wheeled explorer also sent two pictures from the top of what the rover’s science team calls ‘lookout hill.’
According to NASA, the rover ascended 500 vertical meters navigating through some of the roughest terrains around its landing site. The ascent has brought the robot to a region that is unlike any other on the red planet.
Status update: I’ve reached the rim of Jezero Crater!
The ascent took 3.5 months and included 1,640 feet (500 m) of vertical climb. It was steep and slippery — but I’m built to do hard things.
Next up? My 5th science campaign, the Northern Rim. pic.twitter.com/FpkEHmwpgc
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 12, 2024
Perseverance, since its landing at the Jezero crater in February 2021, has completed four science campaigns namely – ‘Crater Floor,’ ‘Fan Front,’ ‘Upper Fan,’ and ‘Margin Unit’ which are named after the location at the landing site. The rover has collected unique rock samples from all these campaigns that will be sent to Earth for investigation next decade.
The fifth campaign is named ‘Northern Rim’ because its route covers the northern part of the southwestern section of Jezero’s rim. At this site, Perseverance will drive about 6.4 kilometres and collect samples from four sites of geological interest.
Ken Farley, project scientist for Perseverance at Caltech, says that during the fifth campaign, the rover will be rolling into “new scientific riches” and locations with “fundamentally new geology.”
“It marks our transition from rocks that partially filled Jezero Crater when it was formed by a massive impact about 3.9 billion years ago to rocks from deep down inside Mars that were thrown upward to form the crater rim after impact,” Farley said in a statement.
ALSO SEE: Perseverance Rover Was Having Vision Trouble On Mars. NASA Just Fixed It
The rocks at the rim are believed to represent the early history of Mars’ crust. Since they are one of the oldest rocks in our solar system, they could reveal what the red planet and even Earth might have looked like in the beginning.
According to NASA, Perseverance will soon begin rolling down the other side of the rim called ‘Witch Hazel Hill.’ It is a rocky outcrop spanning 450 meters.
Perseverance will also investigate a region called ‘Lac de Charmes’ which is believed to have been unaffected by the formation of the Jezero crater. NASA also has eyes on an outcrop of large blocks known as megabreccia that may have formed during a ‘planet-altering’ event called Isidis impact which created a 1,200 km-wide impact basin about 3.9 billion years ago.
“As we drive down the hill, we will be going back in time, investigating the ancient environments of Mars recorded in the crater rim,” said Candice Bedford, a Perseverance scientist from Purdue University.
ALSO SEE: NASA Rover Finds ‘Most Puzzling’ Rock With Potential Evidence Of Past Life On Mars
(Image: NASA)
